The Year of Moving Forward

At our 4 person wedding reception in DC

Friday, June 22, 2007

More Cold Cases and Money to Solve Them

The House of Representatives voted this week to approve allocating $10 million a year for 10 years (total 100 million dollars) to probe unsolved civil rights cases from the 50’s and 60’s. Only Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas and Republican Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia voted against bill. The Senate is expected to follow suit, and the president has indicated he will sign the bill.

Matt Murphy who hosts a radio talk show on Birmingham’s 101.1 The Source FM yesterday said that was a waste of money. Then he danced around the issues of racism and justice and said the money could be better spent on security, that we are at war.

We spend well over 100 million every day in Iraq (check the Cost of the War link to the left). One day of freedom from the war of choice would fund this whole project. So I don’t think $10 million a year is going to affect homeland security one bit. Especially since they seem more concerned with harassing mothers for attempting to carry their toddler’s sippy cup on board. Now that is a grand use of the taxpayer’s money, right?

Just a few days of freedom from the war of choice would provide enough money to develop a program to inspect shipping containers coming into our ports. And that would give me more of a secure feeling than watching our troops referee a civil war at such great cost in lives and quality of lives. Or maybe even provide a way of enforcing border security!!!

My post from yesterday (Murder? 1956) should let you know that I believe in justice, regardless of the period of time that has passed. Someone who has lived with the demons of their murderous sins for 50 years may have suffered, but they have not paid the price that our system of justice demands.

Yesterday the Birmingham Peace Project presented their Music for Peace and Justice Series at Church of the Reconciler in downtown Birmingham. Church of the Reconciler is a non-traditional United Methodist Church that practices “radical hospitality” in welcoming everyone, including the homeless, all races, all cultures, all sexual orientations, all social status. The theme last night was Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender rights…Human Rights for All. The group sponsors concerts always with a theme of peace (and justice). I should have posted this before the concert. Oops.